Six Things to Know About
Gamification
Six Things to Know About
Gamification
Games
and play are cornerstones of human interaction and development.
As children, playing and pretending allowed for our brains to develop as we used our imagination to role-play and overcome fear-inducing obstacles in a safe setting.¹
"Risky Play" has become hot topic of childhood development, as it has been shown that children should be given healthy opportunities to test the limits of their capabilities and calculate risks.² Games (structured or non-structured) remained an important aspect of play, even as we grew into tweens, young adults, and into adulthood. Card games, board games, video games, and (most recently) mobile games have become firmly entrenched in societies of all backgrounds of humankind. Our games serve as an avenue for healthy social interaction, calculation of risks, failure, learning, and resilience...so it is no surprise that there has been a recent movement spanning many fields to "gamify", attributing game-design elements to an experience that traditionally would not be thought of as a game. When did gamification start to take hold? Who is trying it? How effective is it? Why are games so motivating? Where are examples? View some gaming facts below, then find the answer to each of these queries by clicking on their respective symbol!
What: When: Why: Who: How: Where:
of Earth's online population plays online games³
(that's about 1.2 BILLION people)
The market for gamification is expected to grow exponentially at a rate of 44.06% over the next five years.⁴
Gamification is now recognized as a productive source of inspiration for engagement, creativity, and innovation.⁴
Collaborative games are expected to grow in demand, as they have been shown to be more productive than competitive games.⁴
15
4
1. What is Gamification?
Gamification is the idea that elements of game design can be applied to what were traditionally though of as non-gaming situations. Usually, this involves completing tasks as a competing individual (or working collaboratively with a team) to earn redeemable reward points, experience points (XP), various badges or trophies, and/or places on an overall leaderboard. Gamification is NOT "just playing games" ...there is purpose to the game and the experience. Some games can even help to solve real-world problems.
Click Here
2. When Did Gamification Become Popular?
Rewards systems have been around for a lot longer than some people realize. The S&H Company began issuing "Green Stamps" in 1896 to retailers to give their customers, earned by shopping at that retailer's location. Consumers would collect these Green Stamps in a booklet, which could then be redeemed for various items in a catalog or at an S&H location. Interestingly enough, S&H is still in business online and is now called "Greenpoints" ⁷. In the early 1900s, the Boy Scouts introduced their badge-earning and rank-climbing system, while Cracker Jacks began adding prizes to their bags of popcorn. Rewards systems like this came about through the years but remained largely unchanged until the development of personal computers in the 1980s and 1990s. Digital games for the classroom began to introduce games in a learning context, but curricula just didn't adapt quickly enough to this new avenue of learning ⁸. Progress was slow until the Serious Gaming Initiative of 2002. This sought to connect the gaming industry with non-gaming sectors. In 2003, Nick Pelling coined the term "Gamification", and its popularity began to increase exponentially ⁹. The introduction of the iPhone in 2007 very likely spurred on incredible rise of gamification as mobile games and rewards moved to the forefront. One of the first social apps to utilize gamification was "Foursquare", which awarded badges and mayorships to users for checking in to locations. Users would also earn points to earn a leaderboard spot among friends ¹º. Looking to the future, gamification will only become more popular as retailers aim to gain customers, app developers attempt to gain more users, and educators search for state-of-the-art strategies to fully engage their students.
Click Here
Points, Badges, and Leaderboards are common rewards in a gamified experience. While these extrinsic rewards can be part of typical gamification, there is maximized motivation when we connect to the game on a deeper level. As stated in "Gamification: Designing for Motivation": "...take gamification seriously: to thoroughly consider its potential, but more important, to move beyond the indiscriminate deployment of stock features toward a deep understanding of the needs of the users..." ¹²
Video Games have been shown to have positive effects on our Cognitive, Motivational, Emotional, and Social domains. Cognitively, playing games seems to maximize the efficiency of attention allocation and spatial awareness. Motivationally, games seem to support "incremental theory", where a person who is praised for their effort (rather than traits) sees intelligence as malleable and capable of growth. Emotionally, games can elicit very marked and intense feelings of pride due to accomplishing tasks and adapting to frustration and anxiety productively. Socially, games nowadays can support the acquisition (and cultivation) of skills like cooperation, support, and being helpful ¹³.
3. Why Does Gamification Motivate?
Octalysis ~ 8 Core Drives
Click here
Gamification to improve your world
4. Who is Using Gamification?
There are many fields utilizing Gamification. In Education, gamification is commonly confused with "Game-Based Learning", where students use a game to learn and meet the instructional goal. The two have different purposes, though they are similar in the use of game design to reach some kind of goal. Karl Kapp summarizes gamification very well: "Gamification is an emergent approach to instruction which facilitates learning and encourages motivation through the use of game elements, mechanics and game-based thinking. In gamification, the student does not play an entire game from start to finish; rather they participate in activities that include elements from games such as earning points, overcoming a challenge or receiving badges for accomplishing tasks. The idea is to integrate game-based elements more commonly seen in video, entertainment focused or mobile games into instructional environments. While not reliant on technology, the advent of technological devices has made the development and deployment of gamification more ubiquitous" .
So what do these look like in an educational setting?
Gamification
Game-Based Learning
Business
Education
Fitness
Classcraft makes learning a Role Playing Game (RPG):
Still confused? Read "Gamification vs. Game-Based Learning: What's the Difference?"
Fitness
Health
Music
Entertainment
Retail
Tourism
Training
16
5. How Effective is Gamification?
Gamification is still in its infant stage in the field of education, but there are some very compelling insights and statistics coming out of the business sector. Gamification is big business.
of consumers agree that if a layer of competition were added to everyday activities, they would pay more attention to their behaviors and actions
Millennials reporting that brand engagement is more likely to make them a loyal customer :
of North American retailers are planning to use gamification to engage customers in the next five years
of the top 2000 companies use gamification now
21
21
21
21
21
181% more retailers plan to use gamification within loyalty programs in five years
A survey by Pew Research Center showed 53% of people surveyed said that, by 2020, the use of gamification will be widespread
21
21
6. Where Can I View Examples of Gamification?
Business
Education
Healthcare
Entertainment
Retail
Tourism
Fitness
Training
Music
Healthcare
Retail
Tourism
Fitness
Training
Music
31
Click for more
Summary
- Gamification is not a new concept and it is not going away. It could be said that gamification is just a great way to design for engagement and learning, and we are just now finding out how effective it really is.
- Technology is taking gamification to the next level (pun intended), as many traditionally non-gaming fields look to use gamification to engage, retain, and educate their students, clients, and employees.
- Everyone can be a gamer with gamification!
You just need solid design and implementation of the right game.
GAME ON
SOURCES
CREATED BY
Vanessa Dreessen ~ Iowa State University MEd-CIT CI505